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Post by Medieval Kevin on Aug 6, 2017 17:23:16 GMT -8
Malcolm stopped his speech as the two newcomers took their seats. His mouth hung open for a moment and then snapped shut. He was suprised the Doc was up and about but it wasn't lost on the captain how the man cared for the well being of those in his charge. He had made peace with them sure but he could really see them being something more than what they were now... To the rest of them. Well it was worth a thought at least.
"Doc, good to see you up and about-" He shifted his attention to the woman. He knew she had introduced herself during their fight back there on New Melbourne but now it escaped him. "Hello, woman-person. Feel free to get yourself fed and watered there. You earned it. We'll talk about the implications of what I am getting myself into later." He stopped there, waiting to get into the thick of it as he was still missing his public relations officer. As much as he liked the momentary respite, Jayne was going to play a big part in the next few weeks... or not... as he saw fit.
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Post by Lady Lee-o on Aug 28, 2017 12:45:41 GMT -8
"Don't need to stop talking now that I'm here. Just make sure Jayne's the butt of the next joke. Since he's late." Wash smirked and leaned back in his chair as Mal and Inara made their way into the room. "We'll give the others a moment or two. Can't say I blame em. Be much better if we were here for a few laughs and some drinks, But we're not. So no."
"Did I miss anything?"
"Everyone just got here." He wasn't sure if he should mention River's little outburst. It wasn't something new and everyone expected it but a small mention would probably be best. "Just something about flower and cloud thieves but I think Shepard and I put her mind at ease." He gave his best smile, "How's the leg, Simon?"
"Hello, woman-person. Feel free to get yourself fed and watered there. You earned it. We'll talk about the implications of what I am getting myself into later."
"At this point, I think it is safe to say, no matter what we are all in this. I'm good with whatever we decided, Kaylee and I will make sure Serenity is ready for anything."
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Post by DarkSideCookie on Sept 2, 2017 7:08:21 GMT -8
"Flower thieves, the worst kind." River has ignored Wash's voice, till he placed a glass of water in front of her. "Here, for you and some for the clouds."
"Don't be silly.", she suddenly said with a slight nod of her head. "The clouds don't need water. The flowers do." With another nod, as if she had to correct one foolish person, she downed the glass of water in one go.
"Don't you worry none,""The sky will always bring more clouds and as for the flowers, we'll plant you new ones."
At that statement River raised her head once more. A smile was playing around her lips for at least one little moment, before her eyes met with the table again, looking concentrated again. She let the voices passing by as they would have been clouds themself. A lot of more people were entering the room, which made it harder for her to concentrate. She even didn't took notice of her brother's glance at her.
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Post by DarkSideCookie on Sept 2, 2017 7:17:52 GMT -8
*** Jayne enters from wheresoever he had been while everyone else has assembled here ***
With one quick move the door swang open one more time. "Heya, what did I miss?", Jayne asked, obviously had everyone's attention already before he raised a word.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Sept 2, 2017 14:17:56 GMT -8
The Captain's calm and welcoming demeanor toward her considerably eased her tension. While everyone was distracted with the members of their own crew, Wendy took advantage of the distraction to get some food and water into her worn out system. She listened to the conversations, a disjointed garble of several different topics at once that everyone seamlessly followed as only a close-knit family such as this one could.
She heard mention of clouds and flowers between River and a couple of the others and Wendy smiled privately into her soup. She was glad that the image of her childhood memory she'd shared earlier with River had stuck with the girl as a comfort just as it had comforted Wendy all these years.
"Heya, what did I miss?"
A grimace quickly flickered over her downturned features. She didn't bother turning around to look at the newcomer, choosing instead to ignore his presence as long as she could and enjoy this bit of peace. His presence meant it would be ending soon since the whole crew was now here. And also because he was an ass.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Sept 2, 2017 14:50:36 GMT -8
Inara sat quietly and like the newcomer, was also observing. Though with the wellbeing of her ship family on her mind, it wasn't her crew members that had her attention. Inara subtly studied the newcomer from the corner of her eye.
Her initial impression was that the woman herself did not intend any threat. However, there was always the possibility that others intending threat upon this woman could bring that threat to the crew. Inara caught sight of a smile on the woman's face in regards to River's flowers and clouds. Her apparent fondness toward River warmed her to the stranger and her subtle grimace upon Jayne's arrival only helped to improve her impression of the woman.
Inara took a drink of tea to hide her grin of amusement.
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Post by Medieval Kevin on Sept 2, 2017 18:01:32 GMT -8
That was it then, here they all were again. With some new faces. Normally Mal had no problem addressing the crew with guests on board or not. But this was different somehow and he had no words... That made him think of the first time Shepherd, Simon, and River had come on back on Persephone... Things had seemed so much simpler back then. But he shook that line from his head. Back on topic. Niska.
"So it seems like we've found ourselves in a might bit of trouble. More'n usual. One second we were cooling our heels for a bit and then with that bounty hunter on board and running afoul of that old codger again, were were rocking back on em instead. That just won't do. So what are we going to do about it. Those of us that need worry about it."
He surveyed the group for some input. He wanted to hear what they had to say, though he was formulating a plan of his own and it had, he hoped, all their best interests in mind. Even if the new folks wanted out. Truth be told the captain hoped that wouldn't be the case though because he saw something pass between River and Cav's companion that might just be of use. If she had some talents other than her good looks... Not many who could calm that storm. Not even the Doc.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Sept 3, 2017 15:20:37 GMT -8
Bounty hunter and old codger? Unless it had involved the Alliance and been backed by a report, Wendy had no idea of Serenity's troubles until today's trouble with the Hands of Blue. She was more than willing to help best she could in return for the help they'd provide her but the issue weighing on her mind would be harder to resolve with each minute that went by.
"Captain, if I might interrupt with another, time sensitive predicament," she said politely before continuing. "I got hold of one of the Hands of Blue's tablets. Lots of vital information to be had from it, perhaps even something that could assist with your current troubles. Problem is, it can only be unlocked by their fingerprint. We'd need to go back for one of the bodies."
Before someone else came across them because once that happened, there'd be a world more of troubles to be had.
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Post by DarkSideCookie on Sept 3, 2017 16:02:51 GMT -8
Jayne listened to the captain's speech, though he actually didn't look very concentrated. Something seemed to lighten his mind, putting one of this silly grin's onto his face, hiding it the best he could by now. But no one seemed to notice that, or did they, but just ignored it?
"Captain, if I might interrupt with another, time sensitive predicament," The grin on Jayne's face widened, as Wendy spoke up. "I got hold of one of the Hands of Blue's tablets. Lots of vital information to be had from it, perhaps even something that could assist with your current troubles. Problem is, it can only be unlocked by their fingerprint. We'd need to go back for one of the bodies."
Now the silly grin was spreading all over his face, before he wordless tossed something onto the table in front of everyone, without saying anything. It was one finger.
Jayne turned to Wendy with a wink and a look saying something like What do you say now?, before back to the others around, a proud look on his face, seemingly waiting for questions.
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Sept 10, 2017 17:59:38 GMT -8
"How's the leg, Simon?"
"I'll be fine, thanks to the surgical skills of your wife," he replied. "But I will let her stick to putting bullets in people for the foreseeable future." He allowed himself to sink back into his chair, observing River's behavior while listening to the captain begin to discuss their latest bad situation and then Wendy interrupting with her even worse situation. Not that his opinion mattered much to Mal, but Simon hoped they could shift their focus to the latter. That was until Jayne threw a severed finger onto the table. The table where everyone ate.
"Gah, what the--?!" Simon blurted, his jaw dropping and his posture jumping back in a terribly non-clinical way. He composed himself and shot Jayne a look. "You couldn't have mentioned this earlier? Let's just hope it's the right finger, I mean, the correct finger," he added.
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Post by DarkSideCookie on Sept 14, 2017 10:05:31 GMT -8
River seemed to have drowned into a deep state of trance for quite some time, all the voices and noises around just fading out.
They were still here. She could feel it. The hint of a smile appeared on the girl's face now and then.
"...Hands of Blue's tablets. Lots of vital..."
Suddenly a twitch went over her whole body, wakened her from the trance immediately. No no no. They were here again. To steal from her. They were going to steal her brain. River hold her head in inner pain. She musn't allow it.
Nobody seemed to notice the change in River's mind, as something else got all of their attention.
"Gah, what the--?!", she heard her brother's voice shrieking like a little girl. River looked up too. "You couldn't have mentioned this earlier? Let's just hope it's the right finger, I mean, the correct finger,"
"blue... blue.. the finger is blue...", she suddenly started to mumble barely hearable, as she averted her gaze from that thing laying in the middle of their table, again holding her head in pain.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Sept 18, 2017 20:33:59 GMT -8
The finger that bounced then came to a stop after a slow roll had given her a jolt. Normally, these kinds of things didn't phase Wendy. It was ingrained in her to always expect the unexpected. This, however, was wildly unexpected.
Amongst Simon's outburst and River's discomfort, Wendy answered Jayne's wink with a disapproving look. Despite it and the reactions from the group, Jayne looked so proud of himself that a flicker of hilarity nearly caused her to crack her composure.
"Gee, thanks," she said dryly. Wendy took her napkin and calmly picked up the finger, wrapping it securely before tucking it into her pocket. She attempted to ease the tension by adding levity to the situation with exaggerated propriety. "Apologies for the interruption, Captain. Please disregard."
Wendy kept a concerned eye on River, hoping that as the people in the room recovered, so would River. She wished she could do more for her but Wendy was barely in a state of keeping herself together.
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Post by Lady Lee-o on Oct 2, 2017 11:58:17 GMT -8
It took a second for Wash to realize what Jayne had thrown onto the table. It wasn't until Simon's 'gah' left his mouth did he even realize. "Wǒ de mā!" Wash move back from the table a little bit, only Jayne would do something like this. He just didn't understand why Jayne would take a finger off the body? He just didn't understand people, especially Jayne. The only one he got was Kaylee because they both had a love of ships. He even had trouble understanding his wife at times, he knew he hard shell was mostly because of the war.
Wash had done a few things during the war but he wasn't a soldier. He did a few flying jobs for the independents, but he wasn't always on the side of good. Right out of flight school he landed a job for the Alliance, biggest mistake of his life and he corrected it.
"You are a sick, sick man." Wash sighed and looked over at River, she was getting better but this probably wasn't helping.
Translation: Wǒ de mā = My God and/or Mother of God.
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Post by Medieval Kevin on Oct 5, 2017 7:06:50 GMT -8
That went south very fast as Mal watched the appendage roll in slow motion across the table. Everyones faces slowly twisted in horror or disgust. Except Jayne's. Of course he knew where it came from. "Proud of yourself Jayne? Useful, yes. Disgusting? On the table." He nodded at that last part, matter-of-factly. "I'm willing to start a pot right now with my own coin to see if you can ever make a positive impression when we have new people on board."
The Captain turned his attention to River, the young'in was rocking her head in her hands something fierce. "It's okay the... blue... finger is gone now." His gaze lingered for a moment but then passed to Wendy. "No need for a pardon, you seem to have a way with her. You want to give it a try?" He was putting her to the test a bit but he needed to know the depth of her empathy here.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Oct 8, 2017 13:55:21 GMT -8
Wendy nodded in compliance as she got up out of her chair. She gave a "Thank you" to Book as he vacated his seat beside River to allow her to remain by River's side. Wendy hated seeing River like this. She'd wanted to help ease the girl but had been torn, unsure if she could handle the strain on her own mind and body but the Captain's request helped sway her decision.
"River," she said, gently taking one of the girl's hands between her own. Wendy had already been drawing her own comfort from the memory of childhood, back again lying amongst the flowers and finding shapes in the clouds above, basking in the warmth of the sun and the love of her dear childhood friend. She smiled at River, concentrating also on burying the pain she felt so that River would not feel more than a hint of it without proding. "Flowers and clouds," she said quietly, perhaps bringing a little clarity to the others on what River had been going on about before Wendy had gotten to the room.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Oct 8, 2017 14:28:36 GMT -8
Inara had been placing her tea cup back on its saucer when the finger had bounced across the table. A horrified gasp had managed to escape her as her cup clattered back into place. One could not fault her for something such as that to get passed her calm and collected demeanor. "Jayne!" she'd chastised but it had been lost amongst the other comments. Thankfully, their guest had quickly wrapped it and taken it out of sight in an irregularly unfazed manner that made Inara wonder what horrors she'd faced in the employ of Blue Sun.
Her eyes shifted to River and then Simon, a renewed respect for the doctor in risking his career, family, and everything he knew in order to save his sister from the same fate. Mal addressed their guest and Inara's attention shifted once again to him.
"No need for a pardon, you seem to have a way with her. You want to give it a try?"
Inara had the eye to have spotted the strain around the woman's eyes but refrained from arguing with the Captain on his request. Wendy hid it well and she was sure Mal wouldn't have requested it of her if he'd known. Or perhaps he would have if he felt it was important in his decision that would involve his crew. Inara was also curious about the woman's character. She was hard to read. There was definite training in her background, perhaps even Companion training, she noted, as she watched the woman's mannerisms and how she carried herself.
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Post by DarkSideCookie on Oct 28, 2017 8:29:31 GMT -8
"Gah, what the--?!""You couldn't have mentioned this earlier? Let's just hope it's the right finger, I mean, the correct finger,"
Jayne's head turned to the doctor with a smile.
"Wǒ de mā!""You are a sick, sick man.", Wash threw in, received only an unimpressed look from Jayne's side,
"blue... blue.. the finger is blue..."
before he eye-rolling glanced into the crazy chick's direction.
"Jayne!"
"Gee, thanks,", at last Wendy got Jayne's attention back, and so the proud grin on his face. "Apologies for the interruption, Captain. Please disregard."
It was the captain then, who managed to let Jayne's silly grin vanishing all of a sudden. "Proud of yourself Jayne? Useful, yes. Disgusting? On the table.""I'm willing to start a pot right now with my own coin to see if you can ever make a positive impression when we have new people on board."
There was no need to impress anybody, Jayne thought, inwardly shaking his head. They got on board their ship, so they had to play by their rules. So to spreak, he won't change for anybody.
The inner shake of his head became visible, once everyone suddenly concentrated on River, trying to calm her crazy mind.
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Post by DarkSideCookie on Oct 28, 2017 9:01:37 GMT -8
River's discomfort didn't seem to vanish completely at Wendy's act to make it disappear from her sight. Still holding her head in pain, she kept the quite mumbling.
"It's okay the... blue... finger is gone now.", she suddenly heard the echo of someone's voice addressing her.
Someone came closer, took a seat at her side. Only her eyes turned for a moment.
"River,"
Someone gently took her hands. A warm feeling raised up in River all of a sudden. She closed her eyes. Breathed in the smell of the flowers again, of the grass around. Feeling the warm sun on her skin. River smiled.
"Flowers and clouds,"
"Yes.", she responded with a satisfied look. "I can see you." This time the bond of empathy between the two of them seemed to be so strong, that River's smile even grew to a childlike laugh.
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Post by Medieval Kevin on Oct 28, 2017 13:59:47 GMT -8
Mal watched River calm as soon as Wendy took her hands. Then he heard the impossible, the little one even laughed. Only Kaylee had ever been able to get her to do that. This was geniune. And he didn't care how good she might be, there is no way she was tricking River into this. That was important. A turn in the right direction. He had to thank the doc's sister for that favor. He wasn't getting played, spun round and send up the creek without a paddle.
This woman needed help, maybe they could make a deal. Maybe she was worth the effort. "You and me are going to have to have a long talk about that later," he said but his tone did not carry any tension with it. He even smirked. But then his eyes went to Inara's. She hadn't interjected but she was taking this all in, he could see that now so Mal wiped the smirk from his face. "So Jayne, do you want to use that... key you found to open up some locks?"
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Post by Lady Lee-o on Oct 29, 2017 5:15:55 GMT -8
Everything seemed to calm down quickly and Wash was glad for it, especially since River seemed to be okay. Wash took one last nibble of his snack in front of him before pouring some more water for him and his wife.
Wash saw Jayne rolling his eyes, surprised he didn't really say anything about everyone scolding him. Jayne was a man of few words but he normally used those words- always.
"So now that we don't need to go back, where to now?"
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Oct 29, 2017 17:40:13 GMT -8
"You and me are going to have to have a long talk about that later."
Getting the impression that his statement meant he was accepting Wendy's request for help, she relaxed with a grin of gratitude, giving an obliging nod toward the tentative future talk.
"So Jayne, do you want to use that... key you found to open up some locks?"
Wendy groaned inwardly. 'All these other people I could work on the tablet with and he picks the asshat.'
She realized she was still gripping River's hands and quickly let go, wondering if River had picked up on her thought.
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Oct 29, 2017 18:24:10 GMT -8
"So Jayne, do you want to use that... key you found to open up some locks?"
"Actually, I think I have a more vested interest," the doctor interjected, his voice hesitant but firm. Their new guest had managed to calm River, even elicit a laugh from her. And he was damn sure not going to let Jayne handle something so delicate. The mercenary's idea of hacking the computer would more likely involve smashing it with one of Kaylee's wrenches, and that wouldn't help any of them.
"If Miss Carter is right about what's on that tablet, and where it might lead," Simon continued, "then whatever we can learn from it could be used to address both dilemmas." After all, information about the Alliance was sometimes the most valuable currency one could have in the black.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Nov 18, 2017 14:52:10 GMT -8
Wendy looked at Simon as he spoke, nodding in agreement, then looked to the Captain for his response.
She was grateful for Simon speaking up when she felt she hadn't earned the right to have a say, at least not yet. More importantly, Simon was right. A lot of the information would be based on Blue Sun's shady human studies and Wendy knew the Alliance many times worked with the Hands of Blue, contracting lab rats such as herself.
The Hands of Blue were shrewd and powerful. She knew they collected and kept information, some even obtained from herself, should the need of control through blackmail ever arise. They had always been the real power, the puppet masters cleverly pulling strings from the shadows.
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Post by Medieval Kevin on Nov 20, 2017 7:29:27 GMT -8
Mal was getting the feeling he was missing something, a lot of people on board his ship right now with some good schooling in reading people. He preferred plain talk. "Might be something on that, could do us a lot of good. Maybe even help pay some of the bills while we are at it. If'n we find somebody looking to stick it to them as much as I'd like too. Especially after they tried to kill me and mine." A lot of people trying to do that lately... His blood was boiling thinking about that little fact. But they couldn't fight some assassins guild let alone the entire Alliance behind them...
They were just pawns in some big kings paths, that all they thought though? "I'm not looking for fight some war with these people but if we can burn them, so much the better." The Captain was about to continue when someone cut in, "Actually, I think I have a more vested interest... If Miss Carter is right about what's on that tablet, and where it might lead, then whatever we can learn from it could be used to address both dilemmas." The Doctor. To be honest he had forgotten Simon was there amid all the outbursts. It would upset Jayne but the man had a point. "I won't take that away from you doc, you two can pour over that data pad and see what you can dig up. I'm more than a little interested myself."
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Post by Lady Lee-o on Nov 22, 2017 10:13:47 GMT -8
Wash hoped that Simon could find something to help him with River. He had never seen someone so dedicated to another person in his life. Except maybe for Mal and Wash couldn't be more grateful for it, he was a good man and a good captain.
"Let's hope you get the answers you're looking for." Wash nodded in Simon's direction and Wendy's, "Both of you."
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Post by DarkSideCookie on Nov 29, 2017 8:19:01 GMT -8
"So Jayne, do you want to use that... key you found to open up some locks?"
For one moment Jayne had that look on his face, saying he had actually no idea what to do with the finger now. Or with something the finger was for? Or what key was the captain talking about? Oh wait, the finger was for that computer, right? Or had this key phrase supposed to mean a key literally?? Jayne got confused. And just as his head started to hurt, the doctor intervened.
"Actually, I think I have a more vested interest,""If Miss Carter is right about what's on that tablet, and where it might lead," Yes, right, that tablet it was, Jayne thought with an A-ha expression on his face. "then whatever we can learn from it could be used to address both dilemmas."
"I won't take that away from you doc, you two can pour over that data pad and see what you can dig up. I'm more than a little interested myself."
"Let's hope you get the answers you're looking for.""Both of you."
"Somehow or other, remember who brought the key.", Jayne threw in the ongoing conversation with one silly grin, visibly being proud about his way of framing also, while he placed his dirty shoes on the table in front of him.
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Post by DarkSideCookie on Nov 29, 2017 8:36:46 GMT -8
River narrowed her eyes before the connection between the two women suddenly broke apart. She had felt some kind of negative energy for one little moment and wondered what this could have been about. When Wendy let off of her hand, River had a silent look at her from the side. She didn't listen to any words from the other's conversation. Instead, her gaze didn't turn away from the woman next to her. For this moment her mind was clear, as it hadn't been for quite some time. Finally, there was enough space in her head for thoughts. Real thoughts.
River wondered what the woman next to her had gone through. Had she been under the control of them too? Have they made those experiments with her as well?
River's eyes narrowed once again. Memory coming up. Taking away the space in her head. The real thoughts. Replacing them with ludicrousness again. She turned away her gaze from Wendy until she lastly was found again in a traumatized position, holding her head in pain. The moment was gone. A moment no one seemed to have noticed.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Dec 16, 2017 15:17:35 GMT -8
The day Niska's men then the Hands of Blue had attacked finishes out, luckily without any further fanfare.
It is now mid day of the following day.
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Post by DarkSideCookie on Feb 19, 2018 12:50:41 GMT -8
***River and Simon enter from Inara's Shuttle***
"What are we gonna eat, Simon?", River asked in an excited way, all her fears seemingly gone at once.
This was the kitchen. A magic place. A place to forget. She loved food, especially the colorful. Yellow, red, orange, green. All except the blue. But then, which food was blue anyway?
She suddenly had to think about blue food, as they stepped through the door, River in a thoughtful posture. Vegetable, sweets... Oh, she missed sweets... fruits?
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Post by Kristi Lynne on Feb 24, 2018 20:41:26 GMT -8
"What are we gonna eat, Simon?"
"Well, we have some very fine cuisine on the menu today, Mademoiselle Tam," Simon began, holding out a chair at the dining table for her. Once she was seated, he began collecting bowls of noodles, spoons, and various colors of protein. "For instance, an appetizer of chicken satay, an entree of pepper steak with a side of garlic mashed potatoes, and for dessert...sticky rice with mango," he said as he placed the various bowls on the table. It was all a fiction of course but with the glimmer of hope that Wendy had provided them, it was a celebratory fiction.
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